Senior prosecutor under fire for exchanging cash envelopes with justice ministry officials

By Park Sae-jin Posted : May 18, 2017, 10:10 Updated : May 18, 2017, 10:10

[Yonhap News Photo]


A senior state prosecutor who once headed a special probe into a corruption scandal involving an impeached ex-president and her aides offered to resign for handing out cash envelopes to justice ministry officials.

The offer from Lee Young-ryeol, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, came a day after President Moon Jae-in ordered a probe into an April 21 dinner attended by a dozen prosecutors and justice ministry officials. "I apologize for causing public concern. I will resign from my post and sincerely face an investigation," Lee said in a statement.

Ahn Tae-geun, a senior justice ministry official who co-chaired the dinner with Lee, also tendered his resignation. Ahn is suspected of handing out envelopes containing up to one million won (889 US dollars) each to prosecutors while Lee allegedly gave a similar amount to cash to justice ministry officials.

The dinner came days after prosecutors ended their probe into the scandal. Woo Byung-woo, a former prosecutor who served as a top presidential aide supervising law enforcement authorities, was charged with negligence of duty but he has not been jailed.

Justice Ministry officials insisted providing cash bonuses to prosecutors has been a deep-rooted internal practice.

Moon, a former human rights lawyer, has promised to reform the office of prosecutors so that they would not intervene in political affairs. South Korean prosecutors control police and exercise a far-reaching legal influence with their chiefs under control by the president, and they were often accused of abusing power to support previous conservative rulers.

Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com

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